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1st Time Using HDU with CNC Router

Graffy

New Member
This is the my first HDU sample off the CNC machine. (finger prints and all)

The relief is cut separate, taped it on for this photo.

24" x 24" x 1" + .5" relief

Lettering was a bit shallow I think.

Now its time to venture into uncharted waters....I have no experience with paint....so this should be fun. Unless its a total disaster...I'll be posting one more image showing the finished results.

signs101-law1.jpg



signs101-law2.jpg
 

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sfr table hockey

New Member
Good stuff. I can't wait to dabble in the HDU area. Got some samples on order.

Funny how the photo makes the one area of the bead look embossed but yet the other side engraved.

I will be watching as well for feedback on how to finish it properly.
 

theskipman_98

New Member
love the look of it.

As far as painting it, we spray primer ours with a Graco machine. The major background color we also do the same. Any lettering, boarders, or reliefs we hand paint, with One shot being paint of choice.
 

MGB_LE

New Member
This is the my first HDU sample off the CNC machine. (finger prints and all)

The relief is cut separate, taped it on for this photo.

24" x 24" x 1" + .5" relief

Lettering was a bit shallow I think.

Now its time to venture into uncharted waters....I have no experience with paint....so this should be fun. Unless its a total disaster...I'll be posting one more image showing the finished results.

signs101-law1.jpg



signs101-law2.jpg
Are you a Pro now? Any tips for another newbie getting into HDU with our Colex router/CNC?
 

gnubler

Active Member
This thread is old, but I'm about to delve into my first HDU signs also. I outsource CNC jobs, but my vendor has never worked with HDU so I'm ordering an extra sheet to do some testing first.
 

John_Smith

Enjoying retirement in Central Florida
welcome to the forum - it would be best if the new members start your own threads and tell us a little something about your shop, tools, equipment, experience (or lack of) before you "jump in" the deep end of the pool. HDU is not cheap, the learning curve can be expensive. Plan your jobs accordingly.
My personal biggest "tip" is after you get the HDU project done, take it outside and spray it with the water hose to remove ALL dust. Just blowing it off with the air hose, ShopVac or swishing it with the duster is not good enough (in my world).
welcome to the forum, guys.
 

gnubler

Active Member
I came across this thorough article from 2013 about HDU. It covers the makeup and characteristics, priming, painting, sandblasting, and cutting/carving by hand. It mentioned when priming to also prime the blank back of the sign for even tensioning once it dries, otherwise it can warp toward the painted side. Good advice?

 

Jean Shimp

New Member
Looks like you have a nice sign in the making. One thing I have found working with HDU if you are using a V bit to carve the letters, the painting can be a nightmare. The background paint wants to crawl into the letters. The best thing to do would be to paint the HDU background before routing, after it is very dry put a good paint mask on the surface and then rout the letters and male cut. Then paint the letters with the mask on. Hopefully when you remove the mask you will have a nice crisp painted letter and hopefully when you remove the mask it won't take off the background paint. This may take a lot of trial and error. It is much easier to paint a straight bit cut letter because you have less issues with paint seepage on the edge of the letters.
 

gnubler

Active Member
HDU is not cheap, the learning curve can be expensive. Plan your jobs accordingly.
All the planning in the world didn't save me from the disaster I'm in. First time HDU project, one is a routed sign, the other is painted HDU letters/logo attached to a wood panel. I did a bunch of research (endless), watched all the videos, Signs by Van Youtube channel, took all the advice and thought I was doing everything right.

the painting can be a nightmare.
That's an understatement. The priming, sanding, hand painting all the letters, each side, the voids. It's been on and off my table a dozen times at least, interrupted by other jobs, shop is trashed, I'm exhausted. Really need a dedicated work area and paint booth for best results. I tried a variety of bristle brushes, foam brushes, rollers, and nothing produced the smooth finish I was expecting. I can't in good faith deliver a product I'm disappointed with.

I'm in the hole around $1000 at this point...the HDU, outsourced CNC costs, all the paint and supplies. I don't care about the money, but the hours upon hours of my time for a project that has bottlenecked my whole shop. Crying my eyes out from the biggest mistake of the year, I should have just used acrylic and been done with it. Pretty close to walking away from sign making for good.
 

John_Smith

Enjoying retirement in Central Florida
Nubler - I used to travel around the country giving educational seminars to small sign shops venturing into the HDU world. The most popular feedback that I received to their success was three things:
1. After processing the sign, take the it outside and spray it with a high stream of water from the garden hose and let dry.
2. Use a good grade primer made for HDU. FSC-88 Jay Cooke's, etc. applied using the directions on the can.
3. Improve your painting techniques: If you don't know how to paint properly, all the above doesn't work.
Practicing on SMALL projects and discover what works for you will be your key. Starting off on big projects and you don't have a clue as to what you are doing will drive you nuts with frustrations. (and to the poor house).
Keep us in the loop as to your future projects and if you have any questions, this is the place to ask them. (make new threads for your posts).
 

gnubler

Active Member
This was the project that nearly took down my entire business. Everything got installed and the customer seemed fine with it, I didn't hear anything good or bad and was paid in full. What I want to do is throw the whole thing in the garbage and make them a different kind of sign. We'll see how the sign overwinters, I have a feeling it isn't over yet and will need some attention next spring.
 

gnubler

Active Member
Time. Space. Skill. This is what you need to work with HDU for signmaking.

I have a small shop with one table, and what I needed for a project like this is a dedicated work space. My HDU job was repeatedly on and off the table so I could get other jobs out the door. Huge PITA. The sanding process was tedious and took massive amounts of time, mostly done by hand because these were cut out letters and logo pieces. Tried using a rotary tool sander and an oscillating tool, found them too destructive to the foam. The dust is like baby powder and gets everywhere.

I painted everything by hand, another time suck. Sand, prime, sand again, paint 2-3 coats. Initially I thought I'd be able to knock out all the prep and painting in one weekend. LOL, try three, plus many late nights after hours. I used the FSC-88 primer as recommended for use with HDU, it was expensive and in hindsight, not needed. This went on like thick toothpaste, as someone else mentioned, even after cutting it with water, and ended up being a terrible foundation for the rest of the process. Lots of bleeding edges on the letter faces that required time consuming touching up, luckily I have a steady hand. Having the space and skill to use a paint sprayer is probably a better option, especially if the sign will be seen up close. Fortunately mine were installed 12-15 ft up where flaws and defects aren't as noticeable, but I was not proud of my work and that sucks.

My CNC vendor wasn't experienced working with HDU. Some instructions were overlooked in cutting and material was wasted. HDU is expensive, so another lesson learned there. He charged me for time he spent researching and watching videos on HDU. I paid him, but it bugged me. What I should have done instead of jumping into a big production job is order a smaller piece of HDU (eBay or wherever) and practice with it first. I actually did ask my supplier beforehand if they had any scrap or drop pieces and they didn't, so I bit the bullet and ordered two 8x4 sheets. Figured I would just "learn on the job", which was a mistake.

Halfway through the project, when I was losing steam and hope, I priced all the pieces in flat cut acrylic from Gemini thinking that maybe I should just start over. It would have cost me around $2,000 with freight, and I was concerned about the additional weight of acrylic as opposed to HDU for a wall installation. In hindsight, this probably would have been the way to go for time's sake, and to design the sign with consideration of potential freight costs if outsourcing components. Lots of hindsight lessons going on here.

In my small shop I share a kitchen/bathroom with the tenant next door. Naturally just as I started work on my project he had one of his own that took over the kitchen for two solid weeks. Between the two of us it was a disaster zone, and this was when I started drinking heavily. On the weekends I took the project outside under a carport, which of course invited everyone and their brother to check out what I was working on. I don't like being watched while I work, and I sure don't like strangers seeing projects in the making, especially when it's obvious who the client is. Lesson: have a dedicated space ready with everything you need for the project. I must have made a dozen or so runs to hardware stores for this & that...sanding supplies, paint supplies, Bondo, adhesives, hardware, Dremel bits, carving tools, etc.

Everything just took longer due to inexperience, and I lost big time on this job after factoring in all the time actually spent and miscellaneous costs. Will I ever make another HDU sign? Probably not.
 
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